olympics


POPOLE MISENGA, 24, BORN IN DRC, JUDO, 90 KG Popole Misenga was only nine years old when he ran to escape the fighting in Kisangani, in the Democratic Republic of


the Congo (DRC). Like his judoka teammate, Yolande


Mabika, he was separated from his family. After eight days alone in a forest, he was rescued and taken to a centre for displaced children in Kinshasa. Unlike Yolande, however, who still doesn’t know the fate of her family, he knows his mother died in the violence. Discovering his talent in judo,


“IN MY COUNTRY, I DIDN’T HAVE A


HOME, A FAMILY OR CHILDREN.”


Popole travelled with Yolande to the 2013 World Judo championships in Brazil.


Denied his passport and food,


and after enduring long-term inhumane treatment by DRC team officials, Popole and Yolande roamed the streets of Rio for days, eventually claiming asylum.


Life in Rio de Janeiro hasn’t been easy, but now Popole is married and has a child. “In my country, I didn’t have a home, a family or children. The war there caused too much death and confusion, and I thought I could stay in Brazil to improve my life.” Popole’s coach says that opponents notice his hunger to win, sensing the judoka has more at stake than winning a sporting competition.


© UNHCR/Kim Badawi


Popole won his initial bout and made history by becoming the first member of the first-ever refugee team to progress to the next round. Although he lost, he told journalists, “When I entered into the competition room, I thought that nobody would cheer me. Then I saw that the whole Brazil was supporting me. I got emotional. I felt something coming from inside: I need to win that first fight. And I won.”


PAULO AMOTUN LOKORO, 24, BORN IN SOUTH SUDAN, 1,500 METRES


Paulo Amotun Lokoro has a goal for the 2016 Olympics: “A dream would be to break a record. To win a medal, a gold, that is my dream,” he says. The 24-year-old, originally from South Sudan, was a young cattle herder on the plains of South Sudan, tending his family’s few cattle. He admits


that he knew nothing of the outside world, except his own homeland, which had been at war for almost his entire life.


“I KNOW I AM RACING ON BEHALF OF REFUGEES.”


© UNHCR/Benjamin Loyseau 12 / UNHCR


In 2004, Paulo’s parents fled to Kenya. Living with his uncle, Paulo had to run too, escaping into the bush where they survived only on fruit. In 2006, the family eventually made it to Kenya, settling in the huge Kakuma refugee camp. Despite not having shoes, he excelled at running in the camp, and in 2015, gained a place on the refugee team. “I am so happy,” he says. “I know I am racing on behalf of refugees. I was one of those refugees there in the camp, and now I have reached somewhere special. My people will see me on the television, on Facebook.”


“I am very happy. When I started my race it was so hard. But I struggled to finish.... Although I didn’t do better, I did my best,” Paulo says, after finishing 12th in his heat at the Olympics.


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